The real loss was the independence of the South China Morning Post when the ownership changed in 2016. They'd been the newspaper of record in Hong Kong for over a century.
While yes it would certainly be more independent if it was independent, I'm surprised at how they still publish pretty critical, self-aware pieces. Maybe some mainland news are also like this and I just don't know what normal is.
If anyone has a recommendation for the equivalent of, say, The Atlantic or Harper's Magazine in mainland China I'd really love to hear.
The whole media environment has shifted now, and the SCMP, while still providing some critical coverage, is a shadow of what it was.
Frustratingly, critical articles also seem to be edited to within an inch of their life. You can easily spot where content has been removed and/or replaced as the tone shifts dramatically and the subject inexplicably changes within articles.
It’s still a useful resource, because Mainland media is almost entirely devoted to replicating propaganda now (unlike during the Hu era).
It’s just a shame that the critical articles that used to be its bread and butter are now outliers within the newspaper.
However, it you continue to run it as a mostly unbiased/outsider publication, it'll be more credible when the occasional bit of propaganda is mixed in.
What's the alternative? Abrupt change that not only gives away it's new ideological slant, but also could serve as a rallying point?
An obvious turn to media manipulations.
SCMP is the only HK media with access to state events most mainland government media can't get access to.
You always see them getting very oddly timed "leaks", and "insider interviews" — things for which people get firing squads in the mainland.